Ziani - Algeria focused on World Cup opener

03 June 2010 04:59

Midfielder Karim Ziani insists that Algeria are unconcerned about their recent friendly defeats and are completely focused on winning their opening World Cup match against Slovenia on June 13.

The Desert Foxes, who also have England and the United States in their group, have come in for criticism after four consecutive friendly defeats in the build-up to the finals - the latest against the Republic of Ireland last Friday.

But Wolfsburg playmaker Ziani has defended the team, saying that not too much should be read into those results. "I think the most important game is the one against Slovenia," he told www.competition.dz.

Looking back on the 3-0 loss to the Irish and the current run of Rabah Saadane's team, he added: "We cannot be judged on this game, especially considering that there were some players that had never played together before.

"We also had lots of injuries. I am not particularly worried about these four losses because we didn't play at full strength."